If you plan to be buried with your family when you pass away, you want to try to purchase burial plots ahead of time. This can ensure that you have enough plots together for you, your spouse, your children, or your parents depending on who will be buried together. Here are a few things to consider when making this purchase.
Types and Price
One of the first things to consider when planning for family plots is to find out what type the funeral home or cemetery offers and the price. Most companies offer traditional plots, which means that they are side by side in the ground. However, there are some plots that are in a mausoleum and others that can be in a designed garden. Consider the price of the plots that you purchase as some memorial companies have higher prices for plots in gardens and special areas of the cemetery.
Maintenance
A question to ask when looking at burial plots is whether or not other family members need to maintain the area. You can usually take flowers to a gravesite, but you need to find out if you need to remove the old ones or if the maintenance company will remove them after a certain length of time. You should also ask if you need to keep the gravestones cleaned or if someone will do that for all of the markers in the cemetery.
Exact Plots
When you begin looking at plots, you might not get the exact one that you purchase. It will likely be similar, but unless you make specific notes about where you want to be buried in the cemetery or placed in the mausoleum, then you might not get the exact one that you look at the day that you make the purchase. Keep in mind that no one can guarantee the demand for cemetery plots, so the memorial service could need to make some adjustments over time.
Vault
As you begin looking over the details of your family plots, find out if you need to have a vault or a liner with the casket. These are details that are often required in today’s time as they protect the casket and keep the ground from sinking. This can be an additional cost, but if you plan ahead, then you could save money as funeral and burial costs tend to increase over the span of months and years. This is also a time to find out if there are any restrictions regarding the type of casket that you can purchase. Some cemeteries or funeral services might designate certain sizes for caskets so that there is enough room for everyone who wants to be buried.
Markers
A final detail to consider is the type of headstone or marker that is placed once you or your family member is buried. Some companies require a flat marker while other companies might allow taller headstones but within a certain height.
Planning to purchase burial plots for your family can be a task that impacts everyone. If you know where you want to be buried and how many spaces you will need, it’s often best to go ahead and make the final arrangements so that they are in place ahead of time.
